Jamie Foxx doesn’t need to be an entrepreneur — he’s already won an Oscar. But like many actors and musicians before him, he’s finding it’s a natural fit.
These days, he’s working with former music exec Shannon Ridley to develop the WizPak, a “wearable luxury soundsystem.” It’s essentially a backpack with built-in speakers — a nod to the early ‘80s and ‘90s, when it was cool to perch a boombox on your shoulders. At $1,300 a pop, it’s geared more toward celebrities and wealthy types than the average schoolkid.
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Foxx, the brand’s content creator and head of strategic operations, says technology has given entrepreneurs and creatives more resources at their fingertips than ever.
“This age — man, you can grab it right out of the air and make things happen,” he says.
Of course, while it’s hard to argue that tech has opened up new opportunities for entrepreneurs, startup activity has been weak since the Great Recession. Still, 2015 marked the first year that startup activity rose in five years. And entrepreneurship among minorities has picked up.
Check out the video above for more from Foxx and Ridley about their journeys as entrepreneurs and what they each bring to the table.
